Rail-bond.



H. McHENRY.

RAIL BOND,

APPLICATION FILED MAR.16, 1908.

- 907,083. Patnted ec. 15, 1908.

.UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

EDWIN H. McHENRY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TOCHARLES H. MORRISON, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

BAIL-BOND.

no. oo7,0s3.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

' Application larch. 16, 1908. Serial No. 421,818.

I To all whom it may concern:

- 'a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the countyof New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail-Bonds,

of which the following is a description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing and to the'letters and figures of reference markedthereon.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in rail bonds andthe processes of making the same and has for an ob'ect to provide a railbond which can uickly and easily be applied with very litt e cost andwithout the enlarging of the holes already made or the making of others.

A further object of my invention is toprovide a spring rail bond whichis so protected as not to corrode or rust, which will increase itsdurability and cause the same to retain its elasticity.

My invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointedout in the appended claims.

In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of myinvention, Figure 1 is a side view partly in section, showing myimproved bonding conductor, and the contact plates. Fig. 2'is alongitudinal sectional View. Fi 3 is a transverse sectional view on thehues 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the bonding conductoron the hue 4-4 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the conductor.Fig. 6 shows the contact plate in front and side elevation.

My invention is more especially adapted for electrically connecting therails at present" in use on steamrailroads or the like, although it isobvious that from certain aspects of my inventiori, the same may be usedto connect electrically, bars or rails of any character.

In the drawings, the rails 1 and 2 are shown 1' as spaced slightly andsaid rails are joined bythe usual fish p to or splice bar 3, and thebolts 4 and 5. Otherbolts of course, may be used and I have onl shownthe two inner bolts in the present i lustration of my invention. Thecontact plate 6 is preferably made of copper and is cut out on one sideas at 7 to form an opening corres onding to the opening for the clampingb0 t. Said c0 per contactpiece or plate. 6, is preferably razed to eachof the rule at a point between the inner bolt hole and the ends of therailas clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

My'bonding conductor-8 is made of spring 'steel, and is preferably bowedas at 9, as

shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing. Said conductor or rail bond iscut away at eachv end as M10 and 11,.so that when said bond is placedbetween the fish plate or splice bar 3 and the rails, the outer cut awayortions of said bond engage loosely the b0 ts 4 and 5. As clearly shownin Fig. 2, the outer end of said bond 8 engages the contact plates 6, 6and the bowed portion of said bond engages the fish plate or splice bar3. It will be readily seen that when the splice bar is clamped inposition the bond will be firmly clamped against the contact plate andthe bolts lying in the cut away portions of said bond, will hold thesame in place.

In making my bond, I take a spring steel bar 12 to which I weld a thinlayer of co per or other non-corrosive conductive meta 13,

as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. After the copper is welded to thesteel core, I tem er the same. The tempering of the bond a ter coatingwith the cop er, retains a certain amount-of the carbon t at is u'sualllost during for said steel core whic prevents the steel from rusting orcorroding.

It will thus be seen that I provide a rail bond which will be readilyapplied to existing rail joints without enlarging the holes or makingnew holes in said rails or. fish' plates which would have a tendency toweaken the joint. It will also be seen that I have provided a rail bondwhich can be readily applied to the present rail joints without usingnew bolts or in any way changing the jolnt for the reason that said bondtakes up very little s ace between the fish plateand the rail. It willbe further seen that my rail bond is not affected by the weather and 1srovide a coat-.

firmly held in place and therefore forms a electric current from onerail to the other and requires only the two electric contacts which arebrazed on each rail. Therefore, the resistance offered by my conductor,is reduced to a minimum. Furthermore, the spring pressure of the bond 8against the fish plate or angle bar 3 forces the same out hour the railsand gives a constant pressure against the nuts on bolts. This constantpressure has a tendency to hold the bolts tight, and

revent them from jarring loose, therefore, 1t acts as a nut lockindirectly;

Having thus particularly described my invention, what 1 claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of making a rail bond, consisting in welding a thin layerof copper to a spring steel core, so as-to form a coating therefor, andtempering said core after the same is coated with the copper;

2. A rail bond consisting of a spring steel core and a thin layer ofcopper welded thereto, so "as to form a coating therefor.

3. Arail bond consisting of a spring steel core, provided with a coatingof copper.

4. The combination with spaced bars, a bonding conductor thereforconsisting of a spring steel core having a thin layer of cop-'- perwelded thereto, and copper platesbrazed to said bar, said bondingconductor having a sliding contact with said plates, and means forholding the conductor in contact with said plates.

5. The combination with'a pair of rails, splice bars joining said rails,bolts for securing said splice bars in place, bowed spring steel bondingconductors located between said splice bars and said rails, saidconductors having their ends concaved to fit loosely said bolts, andcontact plates brazed to said rails against which the conductors areheld by the splice bars, said conductors having a noncorrodingconducting coatingthereon. V

In testimony whereof I ai'lix my signature, 1n presence of twowitnesses.

EDWIN H. MOHEWRY.

